Chapter 105:
Seo Jae-yi was about to head home, satisfied that she had conveyed her message to the government with today’s actions. They would receive a report of them entering the same house, so that was enough.
But Baek Joo-won had other plans.
“Shouldn’t we make it clear if we’re going to do this?”
He said that and then booked a hotel suite!
“You don’t have to go this far.”
Seo Jae-yi was flustered.
“You’re saying that, but you’re obediently following me.”
Baek Joo-won scoffed at her.
He was right. She had only been pacing anxiously, not stopping him, as he booked the suite under her name, paid with her card, and headed upstairs.
“Ahem. Well, I’ll allow it if you insist.”
Seo Jae-yi, finally admitting her true feelings, snatched the key card from Baek Joo-won and opened the door.
“Wow! This room is amazing!”
She hadn’t said it out loud, but she had clearly wanted this, her face beaming with excitement as she looked around the suite.
“I’m sleeping in this room!”
She chose the room with the best view after checking out the three bedrooms.
Baek Joo-won, sprawled on the plush bed, watched Seo Jae-yi, who was exclaiming in delight.
“You won’t even have time to enjoy the view.”
“Huh? Why?”
“You were really planning on just sleeping here?”
Then…? What were they supposed to do here?
As Seo Jae-yi stared at him blankly, Baek Joo-won slowly took off his suit jacket. His long fingers loosened his tie.
“When a young man and woman are alone in a hotel suite…”
He whispered suggestively, tossed his tie aside, and sat down next to Seo Jae-yi, who was sprawled on the bed. His eyes crinkled as he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt.
“It’s time for your daily dose of Guiding.”
A plush bed, no distractions, perfect.
“The time is right, the place is right, you’re not going to refuse, are you?”
His brown eyes, gazing at her intently, turned a clear green. His elongated pupils, characteristic of a monster, focused on her.
She was suddenly reminded that he wasn’t human. The pressure she had occasionally felt from him when he was “Baek Joo-won” returned.
“Why are you threatening me with Guiding?”
“It’s a threat. I’m not backing down this time, even if you refuse.”
He unbuttoned a few more buttons and intertwined his fingers with hers.
His resolute expression showed no signs of yielding.
“I’m not refusing. You’re right; the time and place are perfect.”
Baek Joo-won smiled at her answer. He looked like a satisfied beast, perhaps because of his eyes.
“Good girl.”
The Guiding began with his soft whisper. A refreshing energy, a stark contrast to the warm, almost stuffy temperature of the hotel room, filled her body.
Seo Jae-yi, whose body temperature was naturally higher than ordinary people because of her heat manipulation ability, let out a pleased sigh, feeling the cool energy, a sensation she had rarely experienced, coursing through her.
It was the same refreshing feeling she had felt on a hot summer day, dipping her feet into a cool stream in a lush mountain forest.
‘This is the first time since I awakened as an Esper.’
It was addictive, and she wanted more of it. She wanted to be enveloped by it.
Seo Jae-yi unconsciously grabbed his arm and clung to him. She had only intertwined their fingers, but now she was in his arms, her instincts driving her to seek more contact.
But it wasn’t enough. More, more. She wanted more of this feeling. She wanted it to fill her, from head to toe.
“Ah, Hae-wi…”
“You can cling to me more.”
Baek Joo-won chuckled and stroked her back. Her fingernails, which had reached his shoulders, scratched his skin.
As if she wanted to dig deeper, but also as if she was trying to stop her own greedy desire.
“Yes, do that.”
Baek Joo-won chuckled, feeling her conflicting desires. The pain from her scratches felt strangely exhilarating. His senses heightened, a shiver running down his spine.
He kissed her forehead, and a soft moan escaped her parted lips. Her breath sounded incredibly seductive to his heightened senses.
Baek Joo-won removed her cashmere jacket and tossed it onto the floor. Her exposed neck looked incredibly alluring.
He gulped and pressed his lips against her pale skin.
To make her lose control, avoiding her sensitive spot this time. To make her melt into him.
His desire surged as her fingernails dug into his flesh. He gasped involuntarily.
The Guiding intensified, becoming more intimate, driven by their mutual desire.
Baek Joo-won’s Guiding continued until Seo Jae-yi, unable to endure it any longer, finally lost consciousness, almost passing out.
“…”
Seo Jae-yi’s eyes fluttered open.
She blinked, still disoriented, unable to understand the situation.
Something was strange. It wasn’t the darkened room, the curtains drawn, or the unfamiliar ceiling.
‘What, why does my body feel so light?’
She felt incredibly light. She always woke up with a headache because of Guiding deficiency, but there was nothing now.
She felt so light that she could fly. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this way.
“Gasp.”
She tilted her head, wondering why, and then turned her head, sensing a presence beside her. She almost jumped out of bed.
A handsome man with brown hair was sleeping next to her, wearing only a bathrobe.
‘Holy shit, that scared me.’
She thought she had gotten used to Baek Joo-won’s inhuman beauty, but she was wrong. He looked even more captivating than usual, his slightly swollen lips parted as he slept, making her dizzy.
And the glimpse of his firm chest muscles through the open robe only amplified the effect.
‘…Wait a minute. Chest muscles?’
Why could she see his chest muscles? He had been wearing a shirt yesterday, during the Guiding session. Why could she see his bare chest through his robe now?
“Baek Joo-won, wake up.”
Seo Jae-yi slapped his chest, waking him up.
He wouldn’t mind her touching him since he was flaunting his chest. But she didn’t want to touch his soft cheeks, fearing she might leave a mark.
“You, pervert. Don’t touch me…”
Baek Joo-won frowned and covered his chest with both hands.
“Because you’re flaunting your chest. Why are you sleeping here? You could have gone to another room if you were conscious enough to change.”
“I didn’t do anything. I wouldn’t be stupid enough to risk my life and touch you.”
“Then why are you sleeping next to me, if your life is so precious? What if I punched you in the face in my sleep?”
The beautiful face, which had been drowsy, lost all traces of sleepiness at her chilling words.
“I didn’t think about that.”
A punch in his sleep? She usually couldn’t control her strength when she was asleep, so even Baek Joo-won’s nose could be broken.
He was lucky nothing had happened last night.
“Be careful next time. But how much Guiding did you give me? It’s been a while since I woke up feeling this light.”
“It wasn’t that long. Maybe an hour after you fell asleep? You definitely look better. You always wake up at six, and it’s already nine.”
Nine already! She hadn’t realized how late it was because the blackout curtains were blocking the sunlight.
She still had the habit of waking up at six, having lived a regimented life at the Guiding Center, going to sleep at midnight and waking up at six.
And she had developed insomnia after her health deteriorated last year, so she hadn’t slept soundly for almost a year, making this even more surprising.
Seo Jae-yi checked her receiver and chuckled in disbelief.
Her overload level was 18%.
“…It feels like my lifespan has increased by at least twenty years.”
“What’s so surprising about twenty years? It’ll keep increasing now that I’m here.”
There was a limit to how much a shortened lifespan could be extended. She had thought she wouldn’t be able to exceed that limit, even with Baek Joo-won, her stroke of luck.
But now, she felt a glimmer of hope that she might be able to live as long as an ordinary person.
She couldn’t ask for anything more.
They went to the lounge for breakfast since they were already awake.
Seo Jae-yi, seeing Baek Joo-won navigating the buffet with surprising expertise, questioned him, and he answered casually,
“I lived in a hotel for a while thanks to Mac Grayson. I got used to it then.”
Right, he had stayed in a hotel suite back then too. He seemed to have a knack for extorting suites from S-rank Espers.
They checked out after a leisurely breakfast, but an unexpected charge appeared on the bill.
“Room service?”
Why was there a charge for room service they hadn’t ordered?
“I ordered it while you were asleep.”
The culprit was Baek Joo-won.
“You knocked me out and ordered delicious food for yourself in the middle of the night? That’s too much! You knocked me out on purpose!”
“It’s not my fault you’re weak. You’ll get used to it if we do it more often.”
The hotel concierge, unaware that they were talking about Guiding, looked at them as if they were a couple having a lover’s quarrel.
“Come back again next time if you’re feeling wronged.”
“We will!”
Seo Jae-yi grumbled but obediently paid and signed the bill.
She would stay awake next time and order room service together.
“That damn Seo Jae-yi.”
Prime Minister’s Office.
Jang Woo-seok massaged his forehead, receiving the report from the people assigned to monitor Seo Jae-yi.
Seo Jae-yi, instead of being cautious after experiencing pre-overload symptoms, was flaunting her relationship with Baek Joo-won.
And unlike last year, when she had only received minimal treatment, she was perfectly healthy now, having received proper Guiding from Baek Joo-won.
And what was with their itinerary?! They bought appliances and furniture at a department store and then went to a hotel? And stayed in the same room?
“They’re not really planning on getting Imprinted, are they?”
No way. Knowing Seo Jae-yi’s personality, she was probably just doing this to provoke them.
Right, they had only been paired for a short time; they couldn’t possibly be Imprinted.
…The problem was that the probability wasn’t zero.
“And even Baek Joo-won…”
Jang Woo-seok threw the report aside.
The informant, a hotel employee bribed by the surveillance team, had been the one who brought the room service to their room.
He had reported that Baek Joo-won was wearing only a bathrobe, clothes were scattered on the bedroom floor, and the blanket on the bed was raised, as if someone was lying under it.